NEW ORLEANS — Sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders and if you have it you may have been waiting weeks, months or in some cases, even years for a CPAP machine to help you breathe at night.
Twenty years ago McArthur McLaughlin felt exhausted all the time.
“I discovered it working midnight shift at work, and just long hours. I was always tired,” said McArthur McLaughlin, 55 of New Orleans.
A sleep test showed McArthur had sleep apnea, keeping his body from getting continuous oxygen and deep sleep throughout the night.
“It affects every organ from head to toe. A person may wake up five times in an hour, and as bad as 100 times in an hour,” said Dr. Mohammad Cheema, a sleep specialist at the Sleep Center of New Orleans in Kenner.
Sleep apnea puts you at high risk for:
- Strokes
- Heart attacks
- Lung problems
- Diabetes and high blood pressure are worsened
- Liver and kidney problems
McArthur got on a CPAP machine that forces the back of the throat to stay open. It changed his quality of life.
“I think it was probably my first time feeling like I had gotten sleep. You know, I slept the entire time without getting up, or coughing throughout the night. dry throat. Just, I felt rejuvenated,” remembers McLaughlin.
But eight months ago his CPAP broke. Now McArthur, and many of Dr. Mohammad Cheema's patients are on a long waiting list for a new one. There are three reasons why: The pandemic, he supply chain issues, and one CPAP manufacturer had a recall.
“So if one place doesn't have it, we try to send it to a different place. If they don't have it, we send it to a different company, just to see who can provide that device for them,” said Dr. Cheema about his patients.
In the meantime Dr. Cheema advises his patient to sleep on the right side, not the back, to help keep the tongue from blocking the airway. Those with obesity should sleep in a recliner. And he advises patients to lose weight.
So here's why gaining weight causes a problem. Your mouth stays the same size, but just like the rest of your body, your tongue and the tissue in the back of your throat get bigger. And as they do, there's less and less space in the back of your throat for all that air to go down to your lungs.
McArthur remembers the difference he felt when he was 65 pounds lighter.
“No blood pressure issues, and no sleep apnea, and I'm talking about throughout the night. It's just a quiet night of sleeping,” said McLaughlin.
So for now he and all CPAP patients must patiently wait.
The company with the recall problem expects to have that situation taken care of by September. Then they can start filling the new orders.